Any tips to get your outside edge?

Mussique said:

It could be many things.
Mostly it's that you need to get used to that feeling of leaning to the outside. For most people it's more natural at first to lean on the insides at the beginning when skating, even when just doing laps.

I'd say the main thing here is to practice. You can use the circles painted in the ice and try to follow them with your outside edges. You can go from your two foot glide on a circle, then you go to your one foot glide while keeping the curve, for example. It is possible to follow a curve on a slightly flat edge, but it should help you get rid of that fear.

Once you have that, actually pushing to the outside edge should feel easier. Try to link them (forward outside right edge-forward outside left edge). For me I usually had troubles with the first and the second, and then the third-fourth ones would be more or less alright.
—...That's because my problem was with the push, and not keeping my balance on the edge, so when I got more experience with "normal" skating and pushing (as in bend-push-rebend, posture, all that jazz) my edges got way better.

Practice is the main point. As I said, it feels safer at first somehow to rely on your inside edges.

Other tips: think of having your weight towards your pinky (as opposed as towards your toe). Keep a good body position (arms, free leg, shoulders). One of my problems is I always tend to overotate, so watch it. Look always to the barrier, never to the ice. You bend your knee towards the boot (sometimes it's a problem with your laces, there was a girl who always said that she was bending all she could and turns out she laced too tightly her boots, which hindered her ability to bend), keeping always a line with your body.

Curiously enough, my first coach told me to do outside edges with the same arm in front as my leg. The second one told me to use the opposite arm in front.
I find that the second technique makes me have more of a grip on the outside edge, but is harder for me to control because I don't keep the shoulders in check. You could try both, though.
When doing edges always be sure you're pushing directly into it (don't go into a flat and then into your outside edge). Practice on both legs.
Happy skating!

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Ange said:

Thank you so much for these tips!! I will practise these. Interesting point about the lacing, as I lace very tightly because it feels like the boot isn’t stable if I don’t. I think my skates are too wide/aren’t stiff enough. Unfortunately the rink here only sells one type of skate.

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Ange said:

I’ve been skating for about a month now and I’m really struggling to get my outside edge. I feel like I’m putting weight on the outside edge when I’m turning, but I’m not actually on the edge if that makes sense. Does anyone have any tips on how to get a deeper bend through the leg and ankle even if I’m already bending my knee quite a bit? Could it be weak ankles? Any help appreciated

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Ange said:

Thank you so much for these tips!! I will practise these. Interesting point about the lacing, as I lace very tightly because it feels like the boot isn’t stable if I don’t. I think my skates are too wide/aren’t stiff enough. Unfortunately the rink here only sells one type of skate.

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Ic3Rabbit said:

It's very important to get a skate that fits you, not you trying to fit it, if that makes any sense.

You may be having issues because you have an ill fitting boot too.

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treesprite said:

When in the skates, if your ankles are turned in even a little (pronated), and feet are leaning instead of being up straight, then the boots are too loose and it will be impossible to stay on an outside edge, no matter what you do with your body. Have you asked the coach about your skates? (Some coaches do not tell skaters when the skates don't appear to fit correctly, unless asked directly. It happens mostly in group lessons when the classes are big, but I know at least one private instructor who lets the same students keep taking lessons in boots that are clearly too big, week after week after week.)

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scb said:

Are you sure the size is correct?

If your boots are too wide, your foot may be moving around inside your skate. The local figure skate shop sold me boots larger than I should have had for my first pair, assuming I only wanted to do laps. When I broke in my second pair, a full size and width smaller from the same manufacturer, I learned I had previously been cheating by twisting my shoulders to generate a shallow edge, as the extra room meant I had been able to angle my foot without angling the blade.

ETA: As a complete beginner, I didn't realize the first pair were the wrong size for months (they were very comfortable, after all), so it's really important the seller knows their sizing.

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Ange said:

Thank you everyone for the replies From reading these, it appears to be a mixture of technique and imperfect boot for my feet. I now know I've got some technique-related issues I need to fix.



I think this is adding to the trouble. I believe they are about 1/2 size too long and definitely too wide, as I have quite narrow feet. I have Jackson Mystique, which have a 15 stiffness rating so I am wondering if that is also a factor since I'm an adult. I've been doing some research and it appears that Risport are more suited to narrow feet. But the closest store which stocks anything other than Jackson Mystique is a 3 hour flight away.



I just started coaching and will definitely ask my coach at the next session. You don't get much feedback during group lessons unfortunately.



Yes, this is what happened to me as well! I expected them to measure my feet but instead the salesperson relied on how I felt in them. They were my first pair, so I had no idea how they were meant to feel. And it seems that the more I break them in, the looser they get and the more my foot moves around. They actually weren't too bad at first...or so I thought.

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cl2 said:

I used to have a problem with boots that feel wobbly at the ankle, and, until I switched to a new pair a few months back, my outside edges would sometimes feel like they are on a flat even though I was leaning my body. It took a lot more effort than usual to really get on the outside edge.

That said, if you're stuck with your current boots for a while, it's still not impossible to learn the outside edge correctly. (In fact, I would contend that the process of struggling on them with my old skates made it come much easier in my new skates.)

One idea you can think about is, inside and outside edges are two sides of the same coin, so to speak. If you're going forwards on a CCW circle, your RFI edge should feel the same as your LFO edge, the only difference is which foot is on the ice. So one exercise you can do is, go forwards on a CCW circle on two feet and feel both your RFI and LFO edges, then pick up your left foot to feel your RFI edge, then switch feet to feel your LFO edge. if you need to get some speed, just do pumps or steps in between. Also, for starters, doing it with shoulders facing into the circle is easier, and then progress to shoulders facing out of the circle for a new challenge. Practice the same thing for CW or backwards.

ETA: Along a similar vein, inside and outside 3 turns are also two sides of the same coin, just on different feet. Start off practice 3-turns on a CCW circle on two feet, meaning you're doing both RFI 3-turn and LFO 3-turn at the same time. (Or, LFI 3-turn and RFO 3-turn, if you're going CW.) Then progress to doing the 3-turn on one foot and then the other foot.

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tstop4me said:

To OP. As others have mentioned, first make sure you have the proper boot for your needs and that the boot is also properly fitted. Even then, however, you might need special fixes if you have special conditions with your feet. In particular, if you pronate, you might need one or more of the following remedies to achieve an outside edge: (a) an orthotic, (b) moving the blade to the inside, (c) shimming the blade. If you're new at this, seek the advice of a decent tech, coach, or podiatrist. I strongly pronate, and without all three remedies, it's extremely difficult for me to get onto an outside edge.

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vlaurend said:

Once you fix your boot issues (and make sure your blades are also mounted correctly, especially if you pronate), focus on what your head, shoulders and hips are doing. If you are trying to do a left outside edge, you need to make sure your axis of alignment is over your left hip, not the middle of your body. Imagine you are standing squarely on both feet. Your balance is squarely in the middle of your body, with an imaginary line (axis) running straight from your nose, through your pelvis, down to the space between your feet.
But if you want your weight aligned over your left side, you need to do several things:
(1) Lift your right hip,
(2) shift or turn (but do not tilt) your head to the left, so your left ear is over your left shoulder,
(3) make sure your shoulders are not fighting the direction you are trying to go. For a left outside edge, try right arm front and left arm back with your head turned to the left in the direction of travel.

This SHIFT of axis from the middle of the body to the skating side is what people really mean when they say "lean". You don't want to actually tilt your body to the left because if you do, you'll fll over. You only want actual lean on the edge of the blade.

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